"Rigged af"- Fans call out 2025 MAMA Awards for unfair nominations after Best New Artist category merge and ATEEZ, Lisa, j-hope snubs

BLACKPINK
BLACKPINK's Lisa, ATEEZ, and BTS' j-hope (Image via Instagram/@ateez_official, @uarmyhope, @lalalalisa_m)

On Thursday, October 16, Mnet announced the nominees of its much-awaited annual award show, the 2025 MAMA Awards. However, many fans were rather disappointed to see nominations that left out several artists from their deserving categories. Instead of having two separate categories for the new male and female artists, the 2025 MAMA Awards have merged the categories as one under the name, Best New Artist.

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Fans felt that it reduced the chances of more new artists being recognized for their work due to the limited slots under each category. ATEEZ, the K-pop boy group that rolled out two albums this year, GODLEN HOUR: PART 3 and their Japanese studio album, Ashed to Light, were not included in the Best Male Group category.

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Many expressed that with the performance of ATEEZ's music and their reputation in the industry, they felt it was quite unfair for the group to be excluded from the 2025 MAMA Awards nominees. Additionally, j-hope's tracks, Sweet Dreams with Miguel and Killin' It Girl with GloRilla, were neither nominated for the Best Collaboration nor for the Best Choreography category.

BLACKPINK's fans were also upset to not see Lisa's name under any of the nomination categories for the upcoming 2025 MAMA Awards. Naturally, fans criticized Mnet for its alleged unfair nominations that failed to recognize the artists who made their comebacks this year.

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They also called out the award show for its alleged biases in choosing this year's 2025 MAMA Awards nominees. Here are a few reactions from the fans:

"rigged af" said a netizen
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More fans and netizens also expressed their displeasure with the nominations for the 2025 MAMA Awards.

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Others also shared their thoughts and opinions about the same.

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Complete List of Nominees of the 2025 MAMA Awards as BTS' Jin, BLACKPINK's Jennie, SEVENTEEN, and more bag wins

The 2025 MAMA Awards are expected to take place at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong over a span of two days, on November 28 and 29. Most recently, the nominations for the upcoming award show were announced, and here's the complete list of nominees for the same:

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Best New Artist

  • AHOF
  • ALLDAY PROJECT
  • Baby DONT Cry
  • CLOSE YOUR EYES
  • CORTIS
  • Hearts2Hearts
  • IDID
  • izna
  • KickFlip
  • KiiiKiii

Best Male Artist

  • Baekhyun
  • G-Dragon
  • BTS' j-hope
  • BTS' Jin
  • NCT's Mark

Best Female Artist

  • Jennie
  • Jisoo
  • Rosé
  • Taeyeon
  • Yuqi

Best Male Group

  • BOYNEXTDOOR
  • ENHYPEN
  • RIIZE
  • SEVENTEEN
  • Stray Kids
  • TXT
  • ZEROBASEONE

Best Female Group

  • aespa
  • BABYMONSTER
  • i-dle
  • IVE
  • LE SSERAFIM
  • TWICE

Best Dance Performance Male Solo

  • G-Dragon – TOO BAD (feat. Anderson .Paak)
  • j-hope – MONA LISA
  • Kai – Wait On Me
  • Key – HUNTER
  • Mark – 1999

Best Dance Performance Female Solo

  • Dayoung – body
  • Jennie – like JENNIE
  • Jisoo – earthquake
  • Karina – UP
  • Minnie – HER

Best Dance Performance Male Group

  • BOYNEXTDOOR – IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU
  • NCT DREAM – WHEN I’M WITH YOU
  • NCT WISH – poppop
  • PLAVE – Dash
  • RIIZE – Fly Up
  • SEVENTEEN – THUNDER
  • TWS – Countdown
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Best Dance Performance Female Group

  • aespa – Whiplash
  • BABYMONSTER – DRIP
  • BLACKPINK – JUMP
  • ILLIT – Cherish (My Love)
  • IVE – REBEL HEART
  • LE SSERAFIM – HOT

Best Vocal Performance Solo

  • Doyoung – Memory
  • Lee Mu-jin – Coming of Age Story
  • Rosé – toxic till the end
  • Roy Kim – If You Ask Me What Love Is
  • Taeyeon – Letter To Myself

Best Vocal Performance Group

  • Davichi – Stitching
  • HIGHLIGHT – Endless Ending
  • MEOVV – DROP TOP
  • TREASURE – YELLOW
  • ZEROBASEONE – Doctor! Doctor!

Best Band Performance

  • CNBLUE – A Sleepless Night
  • DAY6 – Maybe Tomorrow
  • N.Flying – Everlasting
  • QWER – Dear
  • Xdinary Heroes – Beautiful Life
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Best Rap & Hip Hop Performance

  • BIG Naughty – MUSIC (feat. Lee Chanhyuk)
  • Dynamic Duo and Gummy – Take Care
  • HAON – Skrr (feat. Giselle)
  • pH-1 – Life Is A Movie (feat. Jung Zi So)
  • Tablo and RM – Stop The Rain

Best Collaboration

  • G-Dragon – TOO BAD (feat. Anderson .Paak)
  • Jennie and Doechii – ExtraL
  • Mark – Fraktsiya (feat. Lee Young Ji)
  • Rosé and Bruno Mars – APT.
  • V – Winter Ahead (with Park Hyo Shin)

Best OST

  • BOYNEXTDOOR – Never Loved This Way Before (Odd Girl Out OST)
  • HUNTR/X – GOLDEN (K-Pop Demon Hunters OST)
  • Park Hyo Shin – HERO (Firefighters OST)
  • Saja Boys – Soda Pop (K-Pop Demon Hunters OST)
  • TXT – When the Day Comes (Resident Playbook OST)
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Best Music Video

  • aespa – Dirty Work
  • ALLDAY PROJECT – FAMOUS
  • BLACKPINK – JUMP
  • Jennie – ZEN
  • Lee Chanhyuk – Vivid LaLa Love

Best Choreography

  • aespa – Whiplash
  • ALLDAY PROJECT – WICKED
  • CORTIS – GO!
  • G-Dragon – TOO BAD (feat. Anderson .Paak)
  • Jennie – like JENNIE

On the other hand, the nominees for the 2025 MAMA Awards categories, Artists of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and all Fan Choice Awards are automatically chosen. The complete list of nominees can be referred to through the official Mnet Plus website.

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Edited by Aishwarya Sai
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